


Intermission

by Stormlyht



Series: This Town That Loves Me [23]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: M/M, Plot, This town loves Derek, lots and lots of talking, stiles not so much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-11
Updated: 2015-03-11
Packaged: 2018-03-17 08:06:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3521756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stormlyht/pseuds/Stormlyht
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erica takes Kali to meet someone from Kali's past.  Derek and Peter have a heart to heart (while trying to teach Derek the Alpha Shift).  Stiles goes to Allison to discuss pack type things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Intermission

**Author's Note:**

> So you get to be in the heads of all kinds of people this time around! Lots of info, and you'll all have to tell me what you think of it. I had a ridiculously fun time writing the Derek/Peter scene. I've been working on this for the last, 2 hours or so, so I haven't even reread it this time through. Any consistency errors would be great to know, and as usual, no editing has been done. I hope you like.
> 
> Oh, also, this is kind of a long one this time around. Hope you like! ;)

Erica looked at her watch for the fourth time, foot tapping on the cement. Kali wasn’t showing up, and she wasn’t going to stay around forever. The note had said to meet at four, it was four thirty, and Erica had things to do. More interesting things than watching mold grow. With another huff, she looked around and that was when she saw her. Black hair flowing away from her face, toenails clicking as she walked towards Erica. Finally.

“Whatever you want, it had better be good,” Kali said when she got over to Erica.

“No, I just called you out here so we could talk pedicures,” Erica said smoothly as she turned away and started heading into the hospital. It went against every instinct to turn her back on Kali, but for the sake of the pack, she had to pretend she was stronger than she felt. Ever since she’d been turned she’d gone through so many changes but it had made her stronger. So much stronger. Even the pain was worth it, because it was on her terms, not on some random toss of the dice.

“Really?” Kali drew the word out as she followed.

“You know some places have a no shoes, no shirt policy,” Erica tossed over her shoulder. “Good thing the hospital doesn’t.”

“What are we doing here?”

“You’ll see.” Erica was actually a little pleased that she knew what was going on and Kali didn’t. She also liked that until this stupid battle happened, Kali couldn’t hurt her. Derek had sworn that if Kali touched her that the battle was over, so she could taunt the other woman as much as she wanted.

“You’re trying my patience little girl,” Kali growled and Erica paused just inside the door.

“You’ll see.”

The glare Kali gave her was worth every moment of discomfort. It was beautiful, eyes narrowed, mouth opened a little, eyes turning red on the edges, arms crossed, and she couldn’t do anything to Erica.

“Are you coming?” Erica asked as she turned away with a smirk. 

She didn’t look back, but she could feel the Alpha behind her. She had thought that the feeling she got from Derek would be all Derek, and it was to an extent, but she could also feel what made Derek and Kali the same. The heavy flow of power that seemed to radiate from them. It sang in her veins, it told her that Kali was an Alpha, it told her that Deucalion and the twins were, Ennis, Derek, all of them had the same feeling. The main difference between Derek and the others was that she wanted to hurt the others, she wanted to push them out of her town, out of her territory. When she was with Derek, she wanted to protect. Protect him, protect the town, protect the people. It was like they were an intruder, and she just wanted them gone. What had been confusing for her was how different she felt around Scott. There was a companionship there that she couldn’t deny, but there was also a feeling of strength similar to the Alpha’s that she could feel from him. She hadn’t been able to make herself ask anyone what that was about because she didn’t really trust anyone very much, but she kept her eyes open. Whatever was going on there, she would be watching it happen.

Kali didn’t say anything else as they walked through the hospital. This was a long term facility, Peter had been here, so it was especially quiet. Since becoming a werewolf, Erica found she hated being in hospitals. She could feel the pain and anguish from those who were hurting, and it made her itch to do something for them. There was only so much a person could do though, and she did her best to hide her discomfort.

“Here we are,” she said as she opened the door to room 156. Walking in, she looked at the woman who was on the bed, face disfigured from slash marks across her face, hooked up to tubes, peacefully sleeping. Erica knew better though, she could feel the longing from the woman on the bed, could feel the consciousness just under the surface.

There was a gasp behind her and she finally turned to look at Kali. Kali’s face was going pale, her mouth was opened and her eyes were completely focused on the woman in the bed. Erica could see her trembling, and she couldn’t help a smirk.

“She lived,” Erica said. “Consider this a present of good will from our pack to you,” she finished, moving to walk around Kali towards the door.

Kali’s hand reached out and grabbed her arm, clenching tightly. “What is this?” Kali demanded, finally ripping her gaze from the woman to Erica. Erica tilted her head to one side and smirked.

“What is what?” she asked mildly.

“Why did you bring me here?” Kali said, shaking Erica’s arm.

“Careful,” Erica said. “You don’t want to hurt me.”

“Why did you bring me here!” Kali growled out.

“You know why.” Erica shrugged. “Your actions have consequences. We’re pretty sure though, that you don’t want Deucalion to know about this.”

Kali’s eyes narrowed. “Are you trying to blackmail me little girl? I could just as easily kill her and save myself the trouble.”

“You could,” Erica said with a nod. “And maybe you will. We aren’t trying to blackmail you though. We’re trying to remind you of something that we think you have lost.”

“I haven’t lost *anything*!” Kali snapped.

“You have.” Erica leaned in and held Kali’s gaze. She searched them for a few moments before she finally frowned. “Maybe not entirely though.”

“What are you talking about?”

Erica moved away and wrenched her arm from Kali’s grip. “Your ability to love.” At Kali’s stunned face, she nodded and turned away, finally leaving the room with a flounce of her hair. It felt really good to be able to get one over on Kali.

*

“Mission successful,” Derek said as he closed his phone. His gaze returned to Peter, who was watching his nephew closely. “If nothing else, we’ve rattled her.”

“Are you ready to focus now?” Peter asked. His nephew was shit at concentrating for the moment, and it made this task so much harder.

“I was focusing before,” Derek growled. Peter held up his hands.

“Of course you were. Now, I was talking about your anchor.”

“And how it has to change for this shift, I got it,” Derek said with a nod. “Tell me something else useful.”

“I don’t think you’ve learned the first lesson.” Peter sighed dramatically because it irritated Derek and he leaned against a tree. “Derek, the first shift is easy, it’s brought about from pain and bloodlust. You control it with your anchor of anger, that’s easy for you now. You don’t lose control and you shift when you want to, you can call upon those emotions with no difficulty. The Alpha Shift requires something much bigger.”

“Just tell me what to do!” Derek snapped.

“You aren’t going to get anywhere if you keep that up. All you’re doing is riling yourself up, you’re not paying attention.” Peter sighed again and looked away from Derek. The trees were starting to look a little ragged in this area of the woods. In Talia’s time all the woods looked fresh and new. Derek didn’t know how to *be* the Beacon Hills Alpha, he had to be taught. Or Peter could take the power from him. If only he was ready.

“Uncle Peter,” Derek said through gritted teeth. “Please help me.”

Or he could help Derek achieve the status he was capable of. In the past, he had been Derek’s favorite Uncle, and Derek had been his favorite nephew. There was a companionship there that he missed. So many options, so many choices. He took in a deep breath and motioned with one hand.

“The first step, is to know why you became an Alpha in the first place,” he said. Derek narrowed his eyes.

“I took the power from you because you were crazy and killing people,” Derek said and Peter laughed.

“No you didn’t,” he said with a shake of his head. “That’s very noble of you, but if that was the only reason why you wanted to be Alpha, you would have let little Scott kill me, and then he’d be an Alpha, because there is no way around being a werewolf and you were a chicken shit and didn’t tell him that. You can lie to a lot of people Derek, but you can never lie to me.” He hadn’t even had to listen to Derek’s heartbeat. The flush that spread across Derek’s cheeks was delightful, and Derek looked away from him.

“I did it so we would have a Hale pack here again,” he muttered.

“That’s right,” Peter agreed. “Tell me more.”

“What does it matter? It’s all going to be null and void if you don’t help me!” Derek snapped as he looked up at Peter again.

“It matters, and I am helping you,” Peter said calmly. Then he went silent and let Derek stare at him for a while. He knew that if he waited long enough, like a little child, Derek would finally tell him more.

He waited, he waited, ah, there was the shift from one foot to the next. Derek’s tell. “I wanted to have a family. I wanted… I needed a pack.”

“You could have let Scott become an Alpha, you would have been in his pack.” A little prod to keep Derek going.

“Scott was too young. He wouldn’t have been able to do it, he couldn’t. There was so much he was already doing a terrible job of doing right if he’d been an Alpha someone else would have come along and killed him because he doesn’t have what it takes to build a pack. He doesn’t even really understand what it means to us.” Derek shook his head. “There was no other way, I had to do it.”

“That’s right. What’s the other reason?” Peter asked and Derek glared at him.

“I’m starting to feel like you know all the answers and you’re just making me say them out loud,” Derek growled.

“It’s important, I promise,” Peter chuckled.

Derek huffed and he looked away. “I couldn’t let anyone else kill you.”

There was a small glow of pride growing in Peter’s chest. “That’s so sweet of you,” he said.

“No, it isn’t. I just… You were the end, the last, there was no one else. I didn’t want to watch the last member of my family murdered by someone else. If I was going to end our line, I just… I had to be the one who did it.”

Peter finally pushed off the tree and walked over to Derek, pulling the boy into his arms and holding him tightly. There was a stiffness there that melted when Peter didn’t do anything else. Derek’s arms wrapped around him and Peter lightly nuzzled Derek’s cheek. They just didn’t smell like each other anymore. When they had all lived in that house together, everyone’s scents had merged together into one scent. Pack. Now they were all disjointed, separate, most everyone dead, only him and Derek.

“Thank you,” Peter finally whispered, closing his eyes on all the terrible things his mind could come up with. There was no more need for vengeance, that had been done. Peter had killed them all, and his place, although incredible as an Alpha, was never to *be* the Alpha. His place, in Talia’s pack, in his mother’s pack, should transfer to Derek’s pack. “Thank you for doing that. I needed the end, I needed to cleanse my mind of the hatred that was the only thing I could hold onto. Thank you for ending it for me.”

“I didn’t want to,” Derek choked out and Peter ran a hand up and down his back.

“I know, I know you didn’t.”

“I had to though, I mean… I couldn’t let you just die again by those hunters, and they would have, you know they would have. I had to put a stop to you because you couldn’t see past it all.”

“Shhh, it’s okay Derek.” Peter nuzzled him again and he felt the sobs shake through Derek even though the man didn’t cry. Derek had always been more emotional than the rest, he’d cried in place of the rest of the pack, holing himself up in his room for hours to let out the pain the pack felt but couldn’t express. Now he tried so hard to hold it all in, fought against the very things that made him strongest.

“It’s not okay,” Derek mumbled. He lightly nuzzled Peter back, mixing their scents together and making Peter smile. “I shouldn’t have.”

“You had to do what was best for the Pack. For the Territory. For you. That is the decision of the Alpha. Do you remember?” Peter asked softly. The words that Talia had made Laura repeat again and again until the girl was so sick of them that she would get into fights with her mother just so she didn’t have to say them.

As Alpha you have responsibilities. You do what is best for the Pack. Then what is best for the Territory. Then, and only then, do you do what is best for you.

“Best for the Pack, best for the Territory, best for you,” Derek said with a nod. “I remember.”

“What order did I do that in?” Peter nudged.

“Best for you first,” Derek breathed. He pulled away and met Peter’s eyes. “You were a bad Alpha.”

With a smirk, Peter shrugged. “I was a good Alpha, but I had no true pack, and that is what failed me. I didn’t mind the order. But I did take revenge for our family. Even the Argents didn’t complain. Well, except for Gerard, but he’s an old fool anyway.”

“You were a bad Alpha Uncle,” Derek chided and Peter shrugged again.

“But I could do the Alpha Shift,” he reminded.

“Are you going to finally tell me how to do that?” Derek asked, crossing his arms again.

“When you killed me, you needed: a Pack, Territory, and to not lose me to someone else. The threes Derek. That is what you have to concentrate on when you want to shift. For me it was vengeance, straight determination. All I had to do was focus on that and allow the deep wolf inside to emerge. The wild wolf Derek, not the tamed one. I became a beast, allowing all of the wild power to come out and be the arm of death. For you, you need to focus on what you need. A Pack.” He motioned to Derek.

“Territory?” Derek asked with a frown, looking away and at the trees himself.

“And to not lose. That is what your personal “you” is. Loss. You have lost so much, that you don’t want to do it anymore.”

“I focus on pack, territory, loss?” Derek pulled his lower lip between his teeth and worried at it for a while.

Peter moved to a different tree, watching his nephew try to connect the pieces. Stiles would get it. That boy was sharp, quick, a worthy mate for an Alpha. Nothing lesser would do for that boy. He leaned against it and waited. Luckily, Derek wasn’t completely stupid.

“Oh,” he whispered as his cheeks flushed. “You don’t believe -“ he started, looking at Peter.

Innocently, Peter raised his eyebrows at Derek. “What?” he asked.

“You don’t believe that Stiles is my *mate*, do you?” Derek asked.

“I don’t know Derek,” Peter said lightly. “Do you?”

He had expected Derek to jump on that, to fight the idea, to argue, to say something, but instead he frowned at the ground and didn’t say anything.

*

“Stiles,” Allison said as she stared at the boy who was standing on the other side of her door. “What are you doing here?”

“Hey there Allison!” he said cheerfully. “Can we talk?”

“About what?” she asked and he shrugged.

“You know about what.”

They stared at each other and she finally caved. “Okay,” she said as she moved out of the way and let him into the apartment. “I think that I don’t want to have this conversation though. So let’s make it quick.”

“Sure, if you think it can be done quickly.” He came in and looked around. “Nice place. Why’d you leave the house?”

“Dad sold it when we were going to move, but I convinced him to come back.” Allison moved to her room and opened the door, motioning him to come in with her. “We made a deal.”

“What’s that?” he asked curiously.

“We don’t get involved in the supernatural, we stay.” She sat down on her bed. “So I’m breaking my word here and you have five minutes.”

His gaze flickered around the room, taking in who knew what all, before finally resting on her. “Are you pack?” he finally asked, and Allison blinked.

“N-o,” she said with pursed lips. “Of course I’m not. I’m human.”

“No, see, I think that’s the thing. Scott doesn’t just have werewolves in his pack. I think… I think he’s like… this weird Alpha type thing that can kind of take whoever he wants into the pack, while not really being an Alpha. Plus, not all of Derek’s family was wolves, and you know they were all pack right? So if Derek’s family had humans in their pack, then you could be pack.”

She hadn’t really considered that, although her mind floated back to Derek’s words last year. He had said that Scott was the alpha of his own pack. One that included her, Stiles, Lydia, and Jackson maybe? Could an Alpha be made instead of having to take the power from another Alpha?

“I don’t think that Scott would want -“ she began, but when she looked at Stiles he was staring at her with pursed lips and raised eyebrows.

“Really?” he asked.

They stared at each other for a few moments before she huffed a small laugh. Stiles was right. Scott would always take her into his pack. “Fine,” she said. “He would. Why do you want to know?”

“Because we’re human Allison. You, me, I think Lydia is human. The point is, that we’re all part of his pack. And if I got together with Derek, then I’d be, what? Between lines? Well, we’ll figure that out when it happens, my point is that you are outside of this mess. You offered to be a neutral party, but you aren’t. You’re on Scott’s side, and as such, you’re on mine.”

She waved her hand at him and said, “So?”

“So I think there *has* to be someone who is neutral. Someone who can make sure that things happen the way they’re supposed to.” He ran his hand through his hair and began to pace.

“Well, if what you just said is true,” she said slowly, wondering why he had come to her with this anyway. “Then why are you here? Telling me I’m not neutral?”

“That’s the thing, I mean, I know why I’m here.” He stopped and turned to stare at her. “Your father really, truly, is neutral, right?”

Her eyebrows raised high and she felt her eyes widen. “Oh no, no, no,” she said as she shook her head. Her heart began to beat fiercely in her chest. “I’m not asking my father to be part of this!”

“He has to be!” Stiles said, hopping on his feet. “See, if he’s around, as a Hunter, as *the* Argent Hunter, then he has a duty to make sure this kind of thing happens the right way, right?”

She stood up and walked over to him. “No, you are not telling my father about this Alpha Battle!” she said, pushing a finger into his chest. “We aren’t.”

“We are. See, because Deucalion made certain *you* were in the room before he challenged Derek. Did you notice? I noticed. Well, not at the time, but as I’ve been thinking about it I did. So of course then I started wondering why he waited. He waited until you were there, he waited until Scott was there. Did he hear my text as I sent it out? I don’t know, but I do know that he got this sneaky smile on his face and he challenged Derek while both you and Scott were around. So I think he is counting on your father being there for some reason. And I also bet he waited for Scott to be there so Scott’s pack, whoever that contains, would be there.”

“Stiles! Dad and I made a deal!” she said again with a shake of her head.

“A deal you’re already going back on,” Stiles pointed out.

They glared at each other for a few moments while she considered all of that. Finally she sighed. “If he really did wait, then why are we doing what he wants?”

“We aren’t.” Stiles shook his head and began to pace again. “I think your father has more information, something that might really help us out, about this battle. I also think, of everyone I know, he might be able to help me take something useful into that ring.”

“What?” Allison shrieked as she stared at Stiles. “You are *not* going to fight against Deucalion!”

“You know,” Stiles said softly, pausing to turn and look at her with a dangerous smirk. It wasn’t a look she was used to seeing on his face, and it sent a strange shiver through her. This was the face of someone who knew what they wanted, and planned to do everything they could to make it happen. “Derek said the same thing to me and I don’t plan to listen to him either.”

“Do you mind telling me what’s going on?” Allison’s father said from the doorway and she turned quickly to stare at him. She’d been so focused on the conversation that she hadn’t heard him coming in. So much for her being some mighty hunter.

“Dad!” she gasped out.

“Mr. Argent! Good, I wanted to talk to you about this little thing called an Alpha Battle,” Stiles said and Allison groaned. Her father was going to kill her.


End file.
